Marine Air Terminal Archives - Stuck at the Airport

JetBlue’s charming Marine Air Terminal at LGA

Marine Air Termional at LGA – courtsey Library of Congress

In New York, JetBlue moved all of its LaGuardia Airport flights to Terminal A – the historic Marine Air Terminal – in December 2017.

18 flights a day now operate out of this space, which offers passengers a private-terminal feel, a Mamava nursing pod, a CIBO Express Market with plenty of New York-themed souvenirs and Salotto, a farm to table Italian restaurant created by the airport hospitality company, OTG.

To celebrate the first year of operations at the LGA’s Marine Air Terminal, JetBlue and OTG hosted a terminal tour and tasting lunch at Salotto.

Here are some snaps from the day.

Historic rotunda at LGA Marine Air Terminal – Harriet Baskas

Passengers enter the Marine Air Terminal at LaGuardia through the historic rotunda and pass under “Flight,” a circular Works Progress Administration (WPA) mural by artist James Brooks that was completed in 1942, covered over in the 1950s, but restored in 1980.

Check-in and the security checkpoint areas are just beyond the rotunda.

A CIBO Express market with plenty of grab-n-go items and New York- themed souvenirs is on the short ramp leading up to the gate areas.

Cibo Express at JetBlue Marine Air Terminal A at LaGuardia. Photo Harriet Baskas

Lounge seating, the 4-gate hold area and OTG’s farm to table Italian restaurant, Salotto, are at the top of the ramp.

In addition to an extensive list of cocktails (starting with an aperol spritz; end with an espresso martini), Salotto’s menu offers a wide range of appetizers (try ricotta toast or the meatballs), sandwiches and more than a dozen varieties of good-sized Neopolitan-style, fresh-made pizzas that range in price from $9 to $16.

The mural at LaGuardia Airport’s Marine Air Terminal

In the new book Murals of New York City: The Best of New York’s Public Paintings from Bemelmans to Parrish, Glenn Palmer-Smith includes the story of the WPA-era mural Flight, by James Brooks, in the Marine Air Terminal at LaGuardia Airport.

Flight was the last and largest mural produced under the auspices of the WPA and is 237 feet long by 12 feet high and, appropriately enough, tells the story of the history of flight.

Here’s Palmer-Smith’s description:

“The narrative flows from the mythology of Icarus and Daedalus to the genius of da Vinci and the Wright brothers. Pre–World War II aerial navigators are shown plotting their routes with paper maps and rulers. The culmination of man’s dream arrives at the golden age of the ‘flying boat,’ when glamorous Pan Am Clipper seaplanes would land on water after a flight from Lisbon, Rio, or any city with a sheltered harbor, and taxi up to the Marine Air Terminal dock.”

In 1952, after being on the wall for just a decade, the mural was painted over. It was the height of the McCarthy era and officials at the Port Authority thought the imagery somehow looked too socialist.

“In particular, these self-appointed art critics took exception to the mural’s suggestion that air travel would be available one day for ordinary people and not just the military and the rich,” notes Palmer-Smith.

Lucky for us, the mural had been sealed in varnish and was eventually discovered, restored and finally rededicated in 1980. It’s now listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

(Photo: Photo by Joshua McHugh. From Murals of New York City:The Best of New York’s Public Paintings from Bemelmans to Parrish. Mural: James Brooks, Flight, 1942. All art by James Brooks is © Estate of James Brooks and Charlotte Parks/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.)